Apparatus for processing packaged goods.



PATENTED MAR 26, 1907 E. K. HOOD. APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING PACKAGEDGOODS.

APPLICATION FILED DEO.4,1906.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1 No; 848,033. PATENTED MAR.'26, 1907.

. Y E. K. HOOD. APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING PACKAGED GOODS.

APPLICATION FILED DEO.4=,1906.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

A "li MAR PATENTED MAR. 26, 1907.

E. K. ,HOOD. APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING PACKAGED GOODS.

APPLICATION FILED DEO.4,1906.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3 in? @MEE...

:ittiiiiax awwmi'oz Erna: zK. Head wimeaoca I sT rEs EATENT OFFICE.

:. ITO GIZZ it may concerns 3 Be it-known that I, ERNEST K. H001), a

" nnisinsrx noon, OF'INDI'ANALPOLIZS, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF ToARTHUR M. HOOD,;F INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.-

APPARATUS Fon PhocE's'sm c-i' ACKAGED eooos.

no. sashes.

citizen of the United States, residing at In dianapolis, in the countyof Marion and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Apparatus for Processing Packaged Goods, offwhich thefollowing is a specification.

In the production of canned or otherwise packaged goods, es ecially foodproducts, the material is lace within the packages in a raw or partia ycooked or unsterilized condition and sealed therein,- the volume of thecontents generally being somewhat less than 1 sealed packages-{are thenplaced in a retort the volume of the package. The filled and or cookingvessel, where they may be subjected to a desired temperature, which ifthe outside.

"material within the packages is not agitated must be attained aduallyin order to preventscorching of t at portion of the material within eachpackage which ,lies nearest the provided for agitating packages in suchmanner as to cause a mlxmg. movement of the contents in each package,and the most successful of such apparatus is one in which the packagesare given a rolling reciprocation through a comparatively short ath ofmovement, which permits substantia ly a complete rotation of each can orpackage. With such an apparatus it has been found, however,

, that where ordinary tin cans, are used as packages there is a tendencyfor the cans to ecome axially slightly displaced so that the blows ofthe cans upon each other are at such points as to cause abreaking. ofthe joints'between the main body andthe caps or covers, and thus unsealthe cans so that the content either leaks out or ecomes spoiled incourse of time, 'many of these breaks being so small as to beinsuflicient to permit leakage, and thus cause u timate molding of thecon.- tent. 1

The object of my present invention is therefore to produce a mechanisminwhich packa ed goods may be processed under such conditions that thepackages maybe moved axially and preferably suddenly stopped. at

each end' of the travel, so as to sub ect the contents of the package toa propellingforce axially of theplackaga; whic w1ll cause in-'termixture of t e contents, the arrangement Specification of LettersPatent. I Application filed December 4, 1306. Serial No. 846.302.

Mechanisms have been heretofore et sufiicient to admit air,

Patented March 26, 1907.

being such that a series of packages may be.

arranged'end to end and the column thus formed given a travel lengthwisewhich will cause the cans of the series to strike one another endwise;In such an arrangement the blow .of one can'upon another is in suchdirection as to be completely resisted by the material of the joints inthe pac age will be opened or injured thereby.

.The accompanying drawings illustrate my invention.

Figure 1 is a central vertical section of an apparatus embodying myinvention; Fig.. 2 is a-section on line 2 2 of Fig.4; Fig. 3, a detailon line 3 3 of Fig. 1; Fig.' 4, a section on line 4 4 of Fig. 3; Fig. 5,adetail of the automatic rotating mechanism, and Fig. 6 a section online 6' 6 of Fig. "5.

In the drawings, 10 indicates a tubular carrier open, as at 11, topermit a circulation of a heating medium therethrough. Each of thecarriers '10 is designed to receive a plurality or column of packages12, arranged end to end, said column being shorter than the carrier inorder that there may be an axialrecilprocation of the column within thecarrier, t e column coming to a sudden stop at each end of its travel. Iprefer that the internal bore of the carrier 10 be somewhat larger than.the external diameter of thelargest package to be handled, and in orderto produce. a mechanism easily handled and for large capacity I providea multiplicity of ackage and such that no carriers 10, and each of thesecarriers is pro-,

vided at one end with ahead 13, having an axial spud '14 serving as ajournal therefor. The opposite end of carrier 10 is provided with atubular spud 15, the exterior of which is adapted to form a 'ournal forthat end ,of the carrier 10, while-t e bore thereof is sufiicient toadmit'any packa e which will enter the carrier. The severa carriers 10are journaled in a air of plates 16 and 17, which are connected bysuitable brace members 18 and rovided with trucks 19 to'form a car whichmaybe readily handled.

- In order that the carriers 10 may be rotated about their axes, eachspud 14 1s projected through the plate 16, in which it is j ournaled,and secured to the projected end is a gear 20, which gears mesh witheach other in series.

The heads 13 are adapted to receive the-blows 1 from the columns ofpackages 10 at one end of their movement, and in order to provide asimilar abutment at the opposite end I hinge upon plate 17 a door 21which is rovided with a'plurality of bosses22, adapte to enter the outerends of the'bores of the hollow spuds For convenience I prefer toprovide the door 21 with ears 21 at each side, adapted to receivepintles 17, carried by plate 17, so that byremoving either verticalseries of pintles 17 the door 21 mi). be swung in either direction. Thisis pure y a matter of operae s n e, d f c urse any oth r means may beprovided without depart ng from my invention.

The car may be placed in any suitable receptacle for treatment of thepackages, and in the present case I have shown a retort 30,

- closed at one end by head 31 and at the other end by a swinging door32. The retort 30 is supported upon 'a horizontal axis 33, so as topermit rocking in a vertical plane to such an extent that the packages12 will slide. from one end of their carriers to the other] Anysuitable. mechanism may be provided for rocking the retort-:forinstance, a shaft 40, provided with a crank 41, connected by a pitman 42to the retort.

In order to get the. car into and out of the retort readily, I providethe retort with a pair of tracks 43, adapted to receive the trucks 1 9of the car, and arrange. a stationary track 44, having a swinging bridgeportion 45, which may be swung down, as indicated in dotted lines inFig. 1, to form a connection with the tracks 43 in the retort when theretort is held in loading position by means of the strut 46,

which during 0 oration is dropped to the po-v sition indicate by dottedlines in Fig.1.

In order to hold the car firmly within the retort while the retort isbeing-rocked, any

suitable means may be providedfifor iiistance, the stationarychock-blocks 47 and the removable chock-blocks 48, which may be backedup by.- removable brackets 49. I also provide a stationary.- bracket 50within the retort, against which the forward end of the car may abut,and in order to hold the car tightly in position a temper-screw 51 maybe passed through the door 32, so as to engage the door -.21 of the carin opposition to the bracket 50.

In order to automatically rotate the carriers 10 during .the rocking ofthe retort, I have provided a sliding pawl-bar 55, provided at one endwith a stem 56, passing through a gland 57 in the side of the retort.

Bar carries a plurality of pawls 58, each of which is adapted to engagethe lower one of each series of gears 20, so that by reciprocation ofthe pawl-bar the gears may be given a step-by-step advancement Pawl-bar55 may be shifted to the left in Fig. 5 until the pawls lie between theseries of gears in order that the car may be readily withdrawn from andintroduced into the retort. Anysuits ing of the bell-crank 59, one armof which is connected by a link 59 to the projected end of the stem 56,while the other arm of said lev r s c nn c d y a lin 60 With P 61,

carried by the adjacent pitman 42.

The operation is as follows: The car having been'withdrawn from theretort is loaded with a plurality of series of packages 12, the packagesof each series being arranged end to end within a carrier 10 through thehollowspud 15. The car is then pushed into the retort and secured in theosition shown in Fig. 1. Thereupon the coo ing medium as, for instance,steam-.may be introduced into the retort through a suitable ipe 70, theconnection of said pipe being sucfi as to permit the rocking of theretort. The retort is then rocked back and forth through a sufiicientangle to cause the packages 12 to slide endwise throu h the carriers 10,striking the head 13 orthe oss 22 at the opposite ends of the movement.The blow thus delivered to the packages is transmitted through theentire series or column, and the material in each package is thoroughlymixed, the blow, however, being delivered to the packages in suchmanner'as not to injure any of the joints thereof. At the same time, ifdesired, the carriers 10 are given a step-by-step rotative advancement,t us speeding the agitation or mixing of the contents of the packages.As a consequence of this construction the temperature within the retortmay be made immediately very high without danger of scrorching thecontents of the packages.

I claim as my invention 1'. In an apparatus for processing packagedgoods, means for repeatedly moving the package axially andintermittently stopping the same suddenly so as to subject the same toaxial shocks.

'2. In an apparatus for processing packaged goods, means for repeatedlymoving the package alternately in opposite directions and axially andintermittently stopping the same suddenly so as to subject the saidpackage to alternate axial shocks.

3. In an apparatus for processing packaged goods, means for alternatelychanging the axial inclination of the package and subj ectin saidpackage to axial shocks.

4. n'an apparatus for processing ackaged goods, means for intermittentlycl iangin the axial inclination of the package and su jecting saidpackage to axial shocks alternately and in opposite directions.

5. In an apparatus for processing packaged goods, means for subjectingthe package to a shock axially thereof, and means for rotating thepackage about its axis.

6. In an apparatus for processing packaged goods, means for subjectingthe package to shocks axially thereof and alternating in direction, andmeans for rotating the package about its axis.

7. In an apparatus for processing ack-' aged goods, means forintermittently c ranging) the axial inclination of the ackage and sujecting said packa e to axia shocks, and means for rotating the packageabout its axis.

8. In an apparatus forprocessing ackaged goods, means for'intermittentlyc anging) the axial inclination of the package and su jecting saidpackage to axial shocks alternately and in opposite directions, and

.means for' rotating the" package about its agedgoods, the combinationwith a holder for receiving the package and permitting same to slideaxially, of abutments at the ends of said holder, means for varying theinclination of said holder whereby the package may slide axially in saidholder and strike said abutments endwise.

1 2. In an apparatus for processing packaged goods, the combination witha holder 'for receiving the package and permitting same to slideaxially, of abutments at the ends of said holder, means for varying theinclination of said holder whereby the package may slide axially in saidholder and strike said abutments endwise, and means for rotating thepackage about its axis.

13. In an apparatus for processing packaged goods, the combination of aretort, means for rocking said, retort vertically, a

to'receive a package and permit the same to slide axially therein amaterial distance, and abutments arranged at the ends of said holder andadapted tos'uddenly arrest the sliding action of the package. I

14. In an apparatus for processing packaged goods, the-combination of aretort, means for rocking said retort vertically, a. package-holder insaid retort and adapted to receive a ackage and permit the same to slideaxia ly therein a material distance, abutments arranged at theends ofsaid holder and ada ted to suddenly arrest the sliding action 0 thepackage, and means for rotating said holder to cause a rotation of thepacka e about its axis. v 15. nan apparatus for processing packagedoods, thecombination of a retort, a car a apted to be received insaidretort, a plurality of package-holders carried by said car and adaptedeach to receive a seriesof packages end to end, abutments arranged atthe ends of said carriers, and ada ted to sud- 7o denly arrest the axialsliding of the packages within the holders, and means for vertica lyrockin the retort.

16. 11 an apparatus for processing packaged oods, the combination of aretort, a car a aptedto be received in said retort, a plurality ofrotatable package-holders car: ried by said car and ada I a series ofpackages en to end, abutments arranged at the ends of said carriers andadapted to suddenly arrest the axial sliding of the packages within theholders, means for rotating said holders, and means for verticallyrocking the retort. p

In witness whereof I have hereuntoset my hand and seal, at Indianapolis,Indiana, this 27th day of November, A. D. 1906.

ERNEST K. HOOD. [L. 8.]-

Witnesses ARTHUR M. H001),

Tnomas .W. MCMEANS.

packaged holder in said retbrt and adapted ted each to receive a

